The good, the bad, and the ugly of the PGA Tour

Part 3 - The Ugly

Here are some of the ugly things that have been happening this year.

Tiger Wood’s rules run-in

I changed my writing of these blogs after the incident between Tiger Woods and Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee’s surfaced last week.  This may become the ugliest thing to hit golf in a long time.  You can check it out here.  If you click the link on Geoff’s site you can see all the run-ins Tiger had this year.  Saying Tiger was “Cavalier with the rules” sparked an ugly response from Tiger’s agent.  I’m not going to delve into this any more than this as I don’t want to be dragged into the lawsuit, although that may be great exposure.

Note:  Since the original writing of this story, Brandel has apologized over his twitter account.  However, Tiger says that wasn't the case.  You can read more on this exchange at www.geoffshackelford.com.

Phil Mickelson’s tax problem

Do you remember this comment? 

“If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate is 62, 63 percent,” Mickelson said. “I’ve got to make some decisions on what I am going to do.”

Paying away 62 percent of your income would be tough to swallow. But many people don’t feel bad for someone when the left over amount is over $16 million. But it still means he lost over $26 million. I know that would upset anyone.

Still, those comments just put more fuel to fire that golf is a spoiled, rich man’s game. Heck, just the other week a question was asked on Family Feud to name a sport played by rich people and the person answered golf. That just about explains it.

These are just two things, but they happened to the biggest names in the sport.  It’s these types of incidents that gives the game a bad rap.  Golf still has a lot to overcome.  We have made strides in the environmental department, but there is still more to do.  We will get there and golf will remain a sport that people will play for a lifetime, and that’s about as good as a sport can get.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the PGA Tour

Part 2 - The Bad

As I said in the good segment, you don’t hear people write about all the good the PGA Tour does.  That’s because writing about these things doesn’t sell.  They like to dwell on the problems.  It’s like an accident, when it’s bad you don’t want to look, but find that you do so anyways.  In that vein, here are some of the bad points the Tour brings out and how it impacts the game.

Making course conditions perfect

For 1 week a year a tournament visits a course.  For the golf course superintendent, it is 51 weeks of preparation for the event.  One bad comment during that week can mean a person’s job.  Course conditions have to be perfect, or as close as possible given Mother Nature.  So what we see at these courses is state of the art technologies.  You have Sub-Air systems that keep the greens, and in some cases fairway, at the proper moisture and firmness.  Bunker sand that has been trucked in for miles so they players get a perfect lie.  (Did we forget that these are hazards?)  And greens that are mowed to lowest heights possible to provide the best surfaces.

So a golfer or club member sees this on TV and thinks his course should always be like that.  They complain to their superintendent and put stress on them to keep the course in tip-top shape.  Courses spend more money than they need to on bunker sand hoping it will do the same for their game as for the pros.  We just keep pushing everything to the limit before something breaks and the person is booted out the door.

All this does is increase the cost of playing the game.  These added expenses to make the course perfect get added to the cost of a round of golf.  And when the course can’t cover the expenses, they either cut the budget and the condition suffers, a management company comes in, or it gets sold. 

Slow Play

Slow play is always a topic on the Tour.  But nobody will ever do anything about it.  Brandt Snedeker had a great idea that other day.  He basically said, “Start enforcing a penalty”.  Golfers, and especially kids, see guys checking the wind several times, getting yardages down to the fractions, and reading putts from six angles and they start to do the same thing.  Tell me how a twosome or threesome of Tour players, who take 70 or less strokes a round, don’t have to look for their golf ball or rake a bunker, take over 4 hours to play a round of golf.  I know they are playing for a lot of money, but many of these guys make more money off the course then on the course.  Brandt’s right, give a penalty and it will get cleaned up.

There may be more, but I'm going to dwell on that.  In the next blog we'll talk about the ugly.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the PGA Tour

With the 2014 PGA Tour season just beginning I thought I would touch base on how the Tour affects the game of golf.  Over the next couple blogs, I’ll look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the tour.

The Good

Economic Impact

There are about 46 PGA Tour events in the year.  These events go all around the country and the world bringing golfers and fans with them.  This provides a huge economic boost to a community.  For instance, the Tour announced that it is moving the Fry.com event to the Silverado Resort in Napa, CA for 2014.  It is already estimated that this will bring in between $20 million and $40 million for the 7-days.  That is a huge boost to the local businesses.  Just think what the Tour does in small markets like the Quad Cities and the boost it gives.

Charitable Contributions

What about the aforementioned charities the Tour supports.  We haven’t seen the numbers from 2013, but back in 2012 the Tour surpassed $130 million in donations.  You can see that they have donated over $1.86 billion to charities and have probably already surpassed $2 billion in total donations.  They do great things in the communities they visit.

Golf on TV

TV exposure is also great for the game.  There are 37 weekends a year where golf is on either CBS, NBC, or ESPN.  Include the events on the Golf Channel and you can find a golf event on TV for just about every Thursday-Sunday.  Compare this to pro and college football, which runs 24 weekends a year, golf gets about twice as much TV coverage.  You would think that would help to lure golfers, but it just doesn't work out that way.

Unfortunately, all of this good the Tour provides is behind the scenes and you don’t hear much about it.  You’ll get the blurb during the telecast, but that’s about it.  I’m not sure what more can be done to expose the game and show the qualities it holds.  Maybe someday someone will figure it out.

In the next blog I’ll talk about the bad the Tour provides for golf.

Why don't we play more fall golf?

Fall is usually a busy time of year for golf course architects.  Construction projects kick in as every year play slows down after Labor Day.  I was out visiting three courses last week and it always strikes me why the courses get such little play in the fall.

I’d like to see the golf course owners make a stronger case for golf in the fall.  The weather in the Midwest was great last week.  Temps in the mid 70’s and clear, blue skies.  We have received little rain this fall so the courses were firm and fast, just how you’d like them.  Why not promote that and get more people out.  Here’s a comparison to golf conditions over the course of a year.

March and April – Usually the beginning of the golf season here and golfers are eager to get out after a long winter.  But course conditions are usually not the best.  The grass is just starting to grow and the ground is still soft from the frozen turf.  This gives us many mud balls and the courses don’t play like they should.  You also have barren trees so the courses are not very attractive.  Yet it still remains the one of the busiest times of the year and a good spring can mean a great year for revenue.

May and June – These are probably the best months to golf.  The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, trees are leafing out and flowers are blooming.  What more can you ask for!

Pinecrest Golf and Country Club on a perfect fall day.

July and August – Nice warm weather but sometimes it gets too hot and humid.  Courses begin to battle diseases and dry areas.  Still a great time to get out, but not that comfortable when its 95 and 100% humidity.

September and October – To me, these months are just as good as May and June for golf.  Great weather and firm conditions.  If you can get around the aerification days, and they do this in the spring as well, you can get courses in their best condition of the year.  The leaves are turning giving great fall color.  After a summer of playing your game is in the best shape giving you the chance to post low numbers.

Courses need to take advantage of the fact that our fall weather is perfect.  Here’s a few things you can do.

Promote your course to the stay at home parent.  The kids are off to school so they can get out and get in a round.  Get a stay at home league going for the month.  If the parent is a first time golfer, offer them a lesson and golf day.  Since it’s not as crowded you won’t be disturbing as many golfers.

A lot of people are going to say that courses are always aerifying in the fall.  This is true and much needed.  But if your community has a couple courses they could complete this in different weeks.  Tell your golfers to try out the other course on the week you’re completing the work and vice versa.  You’ll get less play one week, but that will allow your staff to increase their productivity.  This means completing the work faster and giving you more time to heal.  

I’m sure there are a few others, but you get the idea.  Take advantage of these last days of good weather.  You got all winter to recharge the batteries for next year.

Can Golf take advantage of the NFL?

With the latest settlement between the NFL and past players on concussions, and the just announced lawsuit against the NCAA, is the golf industry missing a golden opportunity.  You already hear about parents telling their kids they are not going to play football.  Soccer has taken a minor hit with references to concussion injuries and baseball faces the PED debacle.  Why not turn up the volume on the benefits of golf.

We all know what the benefits are.  It teaches sportsmanship and honesty in rules officiating.  If they choose to walk, it has great health benefits.  Injuries are rare in the sport and it even enhances flexibility and eye-hand coordination.  There are many more, but you get the idea.  Golf is good for you and parents should give their kids the opportunity to try the game.

It’s never good to kick someone when they are down and the NFL will survive.  But my bet is that the game will change drastically in the next 15-20 years.  Less kids are going to be playing and it will change the talent that colleges and the pros can pick from.  I am already seeing this in one of my local high schools.  The current freshman team has 20 kids on the team.  This is out of 500+ students in the class.  That will have a huge impact on the varsity team in three years.  If this trend goes nationwide, you can see the impact.

So why not promote your advantages and remind people of the benefits to the game.   Gaining a few kids now will go a long way in the future.

USGA proves a course needn’t be long to be difficult

By now you’ve had a chance to digest the US Open.  Whether it was for another heartbreak for Phil Mickelson, a great victory by Justin Rose, or another lost major for Tiger Woods, we are all remembering a great week.  Before I delve into my take on the championship, I want to commend Matt Shafer and all the volunteers on his crew.  They faced a miserable week before, and during the tournament, and kept the course in great playing condition.

For years we have watched courses get longer and longer due to technology behind the golf ball and club.  Not only have PGA Tour venues gotten longer, but so have our local courses.  So when the USGA announced it was going back to Merion, a course that played to 6,544 yards in 1981, we immediately wondered what it was going to do to fight the distance issue.  Here’s how you make a golf course difficult.

Grow the rough - In past years the USGA had gone to a graduated rough that was shorter near the fairway and longer as you got farther away.  The thinking was to punish a more offline golf shot and give you a chance if you only miss the fairway by a few feet.  This year they threw that all out and went to one long, nasty rough height.  This punished the golfers, especially on the longer holes when you had no choice but to chip out.  This also put a bigger premium on accuracy, something the USGA loves to do.

Narrowing the fairway on the second hole.  Not only did this put the bunkers far off the fairway, but also brought the road into play.

Narrow the fairways - If deep, thick rough wasn’t enough, then how about narrowing the fairways as well.  I’ll start out by saying that Merion sits on about 110 acres, so it is not a wide course.  Designed by Hugh Wilson, the course features dramatic elevations changes, subtle angles of attack, and challenging greens.  All those alone have allowed Merion to host a record 18 USGA championships.  So why narrow the fairways?  Well, to take driver out of their hands and force them to hit longer shots into the greens.

Some players only hit driver a handful of times.  Mickelson didn’t even carry a driver in his bag and Rose hit irons off many tees down the stretch to keep the ball in play.  I will say that Rose seemed to be the most consistent off the tee, which probably led to his victory.

Hide the pins - I’ve attached the pin sheets from the third and fourth rounds.  As you can see, not many pins were in the middle of the greens.  Most were tucked 3-4 paces from an edge.  This made it difficult for players to attack the course and had most of them playing in defense.  In my opinion, it didn’t make for interesting golf.

Add distance - Off course the USGA added distance.  It wasn’t going to play on a 6,500 yard course.  No matter how they tricked it up, the pros would pick it apart and be double digits under par.  They don’t want that to happen.  So they found over 400 yards to add to the course.  This included lengthening three of the par 3’s to over 230 yards, moving the fourteenth tee so you had to play across the putting green, plus other changes.  Finding distance got to be so difficult that Mickelson even said to USGA Executive Director Mike Davis, “274 yards, that’s terrible, we can’t even reach it.” following his play on the par 3 third hole on Sunday.

As a golf course architect, when a client says they want the course more difficult, I tell them they can do that without touching the course.  They might not go as far as narrowing the fairways, but grow the rough long and hide the pins, and you can make any course unplayable. 

What disappoints me about this US Open, is they took the strategy out of a brilliant course.  Narrow fairways eliminates the angles that can be present on the course.  That is what makes Augusta National such an excellent course.  It allows you to hit the fairway, but if your not in the right position, you have a difficult time getting to the pin.

No rough, all sand on the second hole at Pinehurst.

The US Open goes back to Pinehurst next year where they just completed a renovation to eliminate all the rough and bring the sand dunes back in play.  It will be interesting to see how they set that course up and if they introduce any rough.

Golf Rules the Recreational Golfer Should Ignore

Now that the anchoring ban is to go in effect in 2016, it is time for us to think about this rule and the fact that we need a set of rules for the recreational golfer.  All golf courses have their own rules.  If you look on a score card, you see something like, USGA Rules apply except for the following Local Rules.  What is a local rule?  It’s a rule, or rules, that a golf course enacts due to a feature on the property.  It may be a power line that crosses a fairway, or a free drop from a landscape bed, or something else.  If courses can do this, why don’t we enact recreational golf rules, available at all courses that a golfer can use.  Here are few USGA Rules that should be ignored by the recreational golfer.

Rule 3-2: Failure to Hole Out – In other words, a “gimmie”.  A gimmie does not exist in the rules of golf, yet it should be available to the recreational golfer.  Any putt 2-3 feet in length should be conceded by the fellow competitors.  Remember, I’m talking the recreational golfer, if you have a high dollar game being played, use your discretion in your group.  If a group gives an average of two gimmies per hole this could save two minutes.  Extend those two minutes to an eighteen hole round of golf and you get over a half hour.  That saves a lot of time!

Rule 10-2a.: Order of Play When Starting Play of a Hole – This rule talks about who has the honor on the tee.  We all know that it is the lowest score on the preceding hole.  We also know that we should remember to play ready golf.  When ready golf is played the game is sped up.

Rule 10-2b.: Order of Play During Play of the Hole – The player furthest away is to play first.  Again, for the sake of pace of play all golfers should play ready golf.  Who cares if your companion is a few yards behind you.  If you’re ready, hit away!  But remember to always be safe and don't walk in front of your playing companions.

Rule 17-3c.: Ball Striking the Flagstick – Yes it is a penalty if you are on the putting surface and your putt strikes the flagstick.  Should you have to wait for someone to tend the flag for you?  If strike the flag on that 40 foot putt, good for you and count it as a made putt.

Rule 27-1 Stroke and Distance – This relates to a lost ball or a ball out-of-bounds.  If you hit a shot over a hill, or into a group of trees, and you don’t find it, don’t go back to the original spot to re-hit.  This takes too much time.  Just take a drop in nearest spot where you think the shot may have come to rest.  Same thing if you think you may have gone out of bounds.  However, in that case you should always think about playing a provisional ball ahead of time.  Think of it as a practice shot as well.

And that leaves us with the Anchoring Ban, Rule 14-1b.  This ban is really put in place for the Tour player or highly skilled amateur that plays in regional or national tournaments.  If you’re the recreational golfer and you play to enjoy the game, then keep using it.  Get an agreement with your group that it enhances your round and keeps you playing the game.  If they are true friends and want to keep you in the group, they will understand.

Steve Mona and the Spring of 2013

So in keeping up with my tweets, and who is tweeting out, I read this one last week from Golf Course Industry.

Steve Mona, of the World Golf Foundation, saying that contraction may continue in US golf courses.  Problem is, that contraction is not going fast enough.

According to the NGF, the number of courses in the US are at 15,753, down by 299 from 2005.   So, in the past 8 years we have lost 299 courses and he expects to lose another 750 courses in the next 4 years.  And that number of courses will still be too high to support the demand.

This all got me thinking about a conversation I had with an industry veteran this past winter.  We were at a local superintendents meeting discussing the upcoming year.  I casually made the comment that I hope we have a good spring and a year of weather like 2012, when golf rounds were up with the dry summer.  Then he surprised me by saying, “I hope we have a bad year!”

Someone out there, who relies on the golf industry, saying he hopes for a bad year?  I asked him to explain himself.  Here’s what he told me.

We all know we need more contraction in golf.  When we have a good year, like in 2012, those courses that were on the fence about closing see an uptick in sales.  They end up having a modest year, or at least break even, and think this may turn around.  So they keep the doors open another year hoping for more of the same.

The problem is, we can’t always bank on the weather bailing out the golf economy.  This spring we have seen one of the wettest Aprils in Chicago.  We had snow in Omaha and 20 degree wind chills in Oklahoma, both in the first week of May.  Now some of these courses are going to be doomed to close at one time or another.  If they keep going another season, that is going to take golfers away from the more profitable courses.  Causing their recovery to be slower.

Now, I am not wishing any hardship on any of these courses.  I wish the housing economy was stronger and they could sell to a developer.  Or a park district could buy the course and keep it as open space.  Either way, we need to get the number of courses down to stabilize the market place.

So back to the tweet.  Courses down to 15,000 by 2017, and it still won't be enough.  I don’t know what it is going to take to correct the problem.  Maybe more springs like the one we are having now will be a good start.

Designing for the Golf Resort

Fortunately I have been part of many different golf course designs in my career.  I've designed everything from a $15 million high end private golf club to a mom and pop nine hole course.  Experiences like these are invaluable and teach you how to make those courses successful.  It is those lessons that I carry with me to every course I visit today.  Lately I have had to draw on these past projects as I get more involved in resort golf design.

Golf resorts can be broken down into three types.  You have the destination resort, the hybrid resort, and the add-on resort.  Understanding what kind of resort you have plays a large role in the type of golfer you cater too.  When I first begin a project, I look at the entire resort before I focus on the golf course.  This allows me to understand their guests and what they are looking for in the resort.  Here is an example of what I am talking about.

The Destination Golf Resort – An example of a destination golf resort is Bandon Dunes.  With five golf courses, Bandon is all about golf.  People go to Bandon to play golf, that’s it!

Garland Resort in northern Michigan is the same type of resort.  Garland features four courses and the largest log cabin east of the Mississippi River.  Guest have been coming to Garland for years, and they come to do one thing.  Play Golf!  When a new owner took over the resort in 2009, they brought me in to review the golf courses and make updates.  We started on their Fountains Course with a bunker program.  Once completed we began to look at the other courses, and even have plans for a fifth course.

Garland is set among dense hardwoods and towering pines.

When you deal with a destination golf resort you are likely dealing with multiple courses.  This allows an architect to examine the resort as a whole and then break it down into different types of courses.  The last thing you want with a golf resort is to have all your courses play and look the same.  At Garland we are able to create different golf courses.  Our final plan will allow us to have one course that is shorter and more playable for the novice golfer.  We may even elect to remove all the sand bunkers to keep it different.  Two of the other courses will play different as well.  One will be long, close to 7,200 yards and will challenge the better golfer.  The other will be shorter, but will feature water on sixteen holes.  This will be a shot maker’s course.  The Fountains course is the member’s course.  Mostly available to guests that live on the property.  When we build the fifth course, this will be a championship layout that will take advantage of the natural sand deposits on the site and cater to all types of golfers.  Having multiple courses gives a resort the advantage of bringing in a wide range of golfers.

The Hybrid Golf Resort – A hybrid resort is one that features a full resort with fine dining, spa services, off-site amenities, and a golf course.  An example of this would be the Pebble Beach Resort.  While known for its world class golf course, Pebble also caters to the non-golfer.  Guests come for the spa, the tennis club, to enjoy the beauty of the area, and to be pampered by one of the best resorts in the world.  You can spend the best week of your life there without picking up a golf club.  But, if you’re a golfer, you bring the clubs.

The National at Eagle Creek is a resort of this type.  Set in the 34,000 acre Eagle Creek State Park south of Decatur, IL, The National features first class water sports, outstanding camping, top ranked deer hunting, and a full service lodge.  It also has one of the most scenic courses in southern Illinois.

The National is used by all kinds of visitors.  Some will come to enjoy boating on Lake Shelbyville and camping in the state park.  Others come just to get away and enjoy time with nature.  Still others come to enjoy the golf course.

The golf course was built in 1971 and is owned by the State.  After years of success, it began to become run down and was closed by a court order in 2009.  In 2010 a new management group was brought in to revitalize the resort.  Most of the updates will need to be completed to reopen the run down lodge, but the new group also wants to update the golf course.

The National located on Lake Shelbyville

I began working with the group at this time and we are taking our enhancements in tiny steps.  After an initial review, we determined that many of the sand bunkers have deteriorated to the point where they must be rebuilt.  These were completed that first summer prior to the course reopening.  The course has now been reopened a couple years and work has begun on the lodge.  Once that is complete, our focus can return back to the golf course.

As one of the more scenic, and challenging golf courses in the area, The National is creating its own niche in the market place.  It is a well maintained course that local golfers regularly play due to its challenge and beauty.  Our design goals will continue to enhance the bunkers, update the practice facility, and widen landing areas to create a more enjoyable round.  We understand that the golf course is just part of the State Park and once the lodge reopens they will be able to bring in a wider range of guests.  We want those guests to feel comfortable out on the course as well.

The Add-On Golf Resort – An add-on golf resort is a resort that hosts guests for something other than golf, but decide they need to have a golf course as an amenity.  These types of resorts include Caribbean resorts and casinos.  People go to these resorts to enjoy the beach and warm weather, or play the slots and blackjack.  They do not look at these as high end golf resorts, although some may feature a first class golf course.  The golf courses here are just something to do if you get bored for a couple hours.

Sunset Pointe in Storm Lake, IA is close to this type of resort.  The course is owned by the City and was operated as a stand-alone, nine-hole public course.  Residents enjoyed the course as it was easy to play and you get a round of golf in after work.  In 2006, Storm Lake had bigger ideas and received funding to complete a water park, clean up the lake front, and rebuild the golf course.  I was brought in as the golf course architect to begin work on the redesign.

As I mentioned, with an add-on golf resort, the golf course is not the major focus of the resort.  So when we began the design of Sunset Pointe, we knew the golf course would not be the driving force in bringing the guest.  Also, with this being a public golf course for the City of Storm Lake, we needed to make sure the residents were happy with the finished product.

The final plan included the reconstruction of all the greens and tees and the regrassing of the fairways.  Understanding that the area did not have sand that was acceptable for bunkers, without paying a high cost for trucking, we elected not to install any sand bunkers.  Instead we created a series of grass bunkers around the course that serves has hazards.  This type of design has helped to have a golf course that caters to the families that visit the water park.  During this down economy, Sunset Pointe is one of the few courses I know that has continued to attract more golfers and, subsequently, raised its rates.

Lately I have been hired to work on another resort, Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL.  Pheasant Run included a golf course when it was first built in 1963.  Today the golf course is mostly used by the local residents and since it resides in a highly populated area, it does well.  However, the resort is looking for a way to get guests of the resorts to think about bringing their clubs when they come for a stay.  Planning has just started, so stay tuned to see how this turns out.

Pheasant Run will be my fourth resort redesign in the past five years.  These experiences keep me thinking about new ways to attract golfers, not just to resorts, but to all golf courses.  As the economy continues to rebound people will start traveling more often and these places will be ready.

 Elmcrest Country Club's Golf Learning Center 

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Elmcrest CC in Cedar Rapids and use their new indoor golf learning center.  I must say that this is a state of the art facility that opens the door for additional club use and revenue throughout the winter.  Here’s what they have to offer the members.

Three simulator bays are always in use.  Not a bad way to spend a winter day.

The golf learning center contains everything you need to continue to work on your golf game in the winter months.  The facility offers a large netted area that you can use to hit shots or the staff uses to provide lessons, a putting area, and three golf simulators.  By combining the learning center with the pool the club uses existing buildings that are now open all year.  Therefore, there is no additional expense of having a separate building.  This building is already equipped with food service in order to provide the members with drinks and snacks while using the facility.  Did I mention there are numerous TV’s to show all your favorite sports.

The lesson area allows the pros to continue to work with the members on their game year round.  By utilizing computers and video they can track a players progression and keep them moving in the right direction.  The pro had just finished up a lesson when I arrived.  However, the key component of the facility is the simulators.

These simulators are the most up to date that the market has to offer and they are heavily used.  During my tour they mentioned that they are booked up 80% of the time.  The way they operate is by providing a two hour slot for your use.  Once you know how the simulators work, a group of four can get in eighteen holes of golf in that time.  You can also use the simulator as a driving range to practice your game.

The club not only uses these for open golf, but also provides leagues and tournaments.  However, where I see the biggest upside may be for the junior golfer and the beginner.  For this group, let’s face it, the simulator is a full size video game.  But unlike the Tiger Woods video game for the Wii, Xbox, or Ps3, you get to swing real clubs and hit real golf balls here.  So with the simulators you get to have fun and learn by doing it, without having to look for your ball or worry about slowing down the group behind you.  Once the season starts they are ahead of game for getting out on the course.

The junior program is big at Elmcrest.

As I mentioned, these simulator are high tech.  When you swing you first get to see where your shot ends up on the course.  Then the screen reveals the technical data behind the shot.  This includes your swing speed, spin rate of the ball, clubhead position, and the carry distance, plus a few other stats.  These are displayed whether you are playing a course or using it as a practice range so you can always see what you are doing right, or what you are doing wrong.

Finally, this facility is not only about bringing more value to the club’s members, but also about additional sources of revenue for the club.  The club charges members a $299 fee for full use the learning center, which is basically the same amount clubs charge for range privileges during the summer months.  You could also pay on a per use basis, but once you try it you'll want to keep coming back.  The center also works to bring members out the club during the winter, which increases food and beverage sales.  It’s all about providing value to members and keeping the club moving forward.  I’ve already had conversations with existing and potential clients about implementing this type of facility at their club.  I can’t see a better way to get through the winter blues.

Year in Preview

Design and construction trends to see in 2013

2012 turned out to be a strong year for golf.  Golf Datatech reports that rounds played through October were up 7.5% over 2011.  It was strong news for the North Central region as they reported a 13.4% increase in rounds.  I’m sure most of this was due to the fact that there were few, if any, rain days for the summer.  This provided stress on the turf, but allowed golfers to get out and play more.  I think this shows that there are golfers ready to play.
      With strong rounds and courses finally making money, a few of them were opting to complete projects that they have been putting off for a few years.  My workload increased significantly following the good spring weather.  Calls came in and I began planning for what turned into a busy fall season.   Looking back at the work I completed, I have come up with a list of what could be a trend heading into the new year.

Cost effective designs and construction

 

      Last fall I worked with a least four courses that completed in-house projects.  I’m not advocating that in-house construction is the best way to complete a project, but in these cases it was the right method.  The key is to know your limitations and bring in the right people to complete the rest of the work.
      I come from a construction background.  I worked on the grounds crew at a club where we installed drainage, cart paths, and gabion walls.  I’ve worked on housing developments providing site layout, and for the past 20+ years in golf design and construction.  I don’t know everything about construction, but I know where to find the answers and the right people.  In 2012 I helped many of my clients find the right people, for the right price, in order to complete their project.  Here’s a quick recap of some projects that were completed.

Countryside Golf Course, Mundelein, IL - Completed a new putting and chipping green complex.  Much of the work was completed in-house to reduce the cost by almost 50%.  See the process on my case study.

Merrill Hills Country Club, Waukesha, WI - Merrill Hills completed the reconstruction of two tee complexes.  MJB, Inc. was brought in to prepare conceptual plans so the members could see the proposed work.  Work was completed in combination of using a golf course contractor and in-house labor.

Canyata Golf Club, Marshall, IL - Work at Canyata included modifying the third green.  I provide on-site construction management and we brought in a golf course shaper to modify the contours.  The course crew completed the rest in over to save about 50% over the contractor price.  You can see the entire process on my case study.

      A couple other project types that were completed last year that may spread into 2013.

Turf Reduction

 

      Last year I worked with both Canyata and Park Hills Golf Course in reviewing their fairway outlines and unmaintained areas.
      At Canyata, the drought that covered Illinois impacted the irrigation system.  Since mid-summer, I have been working with the Club to preform an irrigation audit of head locations and their impact on the design.  A plan is being formulated to either modify the grassing outlines and reduce fairways, or relocate irrigation heads.  The same is being done for the fescue areas in order to minimize the amount of water thrown into these areas.  This will also aid in adjusting the irrigation schedule to minimize the amount of water used on the entire golf course.
      I visited Park Hills in the spring to tour the the course with the superintendent.  During the tour we marked out over 20 acres of turf to be converted to unmaintained areas.  This will help in eliminating the need to mow these areas during the season and save money on fuel and time.

Tree Management

      The impact of the Emerald Ash Bore is starting to be felt in the Midwest.  I have been working with St. Charles Country Club, and The Country Club of Peoria over the past few years on updates to the golf courses.  This year the updates turned to tree management.
      At St. Charles, superintendent Chuck Barber saw the decline of many of the Ash trees on the course.  In the fall I was brought in to prepare a plan for the elimination of these infected trees, and then review the areas for tree relocation.  The Club is working with GRO Horticultural Enterprises who identified over 70 trees on the property that were right for transplanting.  My plan incorporated these trees to prepare a cohesive plan for the golf course that put the proper trees in the right location.
      Part of the Enhancement Plan I prepared for the CC of Peoria in 2006 included tree management.  The course had become overgrown and over the past years over 500 trees have been removed.  My involvement still extends to reviewing potential impacts trees have on the course.  This fall I was brought in to review a few areas and offer my professional opinion.
      The membership has come a long way since 2006 in regards to tree management.  The case of “Why are we taking that tree out”, has now turned into, “Why are we NOT taking that tree out”.  But occasionally there is a tree that creates discussion.  That is when experts like myself, the USGA Green Section, and the Club’s arborist are brought in to explain the reasons.  In this case, we explain how the tree is declining and how removal will allow for creating denser turf.  In some cases it may also allow for the creation of strategic golf elements, such as mounds, depressions, and bunkers to improve the course.  Something that we created in the early implementation of the Enhancement Plan.